Brian Bauer Leaving Venture Center for Cannabis Fintech Firm Role

Brian Bauer

Brian Bauer, co-founder of cannabis financial technology firm Abaca, is transitioning to a full-time role with Abaca. He’ll be its chief strategy and revenue officer.

Bauer is also leaving the Venture Center in Little Rock, where he had been serving as managing director of fintech accelerator programs.

Daniel Schutte, who had been program manager for fintech accelerators at the Venture Center, has been promoted to replace Bauer.

“Over the last 24 months, Abaca has been growing steadily along with the entire cannabis industry,” said Abaca CEO Dan Roda in a news release. “Brian’s experience and depth of resources in fintech and innovation will be essential in continuing this growth and in enabling the provision of modern financial services across this vertical.”

Abaca enables banking, lending and electronic payment processing for the U.S. cannabis industry. It was founded in 2017 by Roda, Bauer, Greg Ellis and John Foley.

In his new role with the company, Bauer will drive Abaca’s growth strategy and manage business development and strategic partnerships. He will also oversee the company’s sales and lending teams.

“I am glad to be able to shift my focus to furthering Abaca’s mission of providing our clients with the very best financial services available,” Bauer said in the release. “There is a tremendous opportunity in this industry that is still very underserved. I look forward to working with our growing team to continue the expansion of our offerings and to maximize our market opportunity.”